William mekdham



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.) v

r W. MENDHAM. I

PACKING BOX FOR PAPER FOLDING MACHINES.-

l srf Patented Oct. 4,1881.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

I W. MENDHAM. PACKING BOX FOR PAPER FOLDING MAUHINES,

Patented Oct. 4, 1881.

UNITE V STATES "PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM MENDHAM, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO CYRUS CHAMBER-S, JR, OF SAME PLACE.

PACKING-BOX FOR PAPER-FOLDING MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 247,773, dated October 4, 1881.

Application filed May 20, 1881. (No model.)

- will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a plan or top view. Fig. 2 is a side elevation. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section on line a: as of Fig. 1.

The same part is indicated by the same reference-letter wherever it occurs in the drawings.

The object of my improvement is to adapt the packin g-trough of a paper-foldin g machine to the more perfect packing of folded sheets of light paper when damp and limp, supporting them so that they stand securely up in the trough. Ihavesatisfied myself, byexperiment, that this can be most effectually done by aplunger occupying the whole width of the packing-trough, so that it covers the whole of thefolded sheet, leaving no uncompressed margins for the entrance of air to loosen the pack and cause the sheet to double and fall when the plunger recedes.

The nature of the invention consists in a device for the automatic lateral withdrawal of the guideslits, which guide the paper from the rolls to the bottom of the trough at the moment that the plunger approaches the sheet to force it past the plane in which the paper falls into the guide-slits, all as hereinafter more specifically set forth.

In the drawings, A, Fig. 2, marks the knifearm and K the folding-knife, of a folding-machine in the act of forcing a sheet of paper, 8, between the last pair of folding-rollers R E into the guide-slits S of the packing-trough.

B is the bottom of the trough, which has one fixed side,E, and one adjustable side,D, which is adjusted bymeans of bolts and nuts 12 b and slots a a, so as to give the trough any desired width to correspond with that of the folded sheet. The plunger P is also made adjustable in width to fit the trough, and is fixed at any desired width by the set-screw 1), Figs. 2 and 3, passing through the plunger-arm O. The plunger is adjustable on its rod Q by set-screwy.

The guide-slits S have heretofore been fixed to the sides of the trough and projected into it, so that the plunger, in order to pass them, had to be made much smaller than the trough, and smaller than the folded sheets upon which it operated. In my present improvement I attach the slits S to vibrating slit-holders H, which are hung on studs I I, projecting down from the bars F G, attached to the under side of the bottom Bot the trough. One of these bars, G, is adjustable longitudinally by means of slots f g and bolts and nuts i i m n, to correspond with the adjustment of the movable side D of the trough.

The'slit-holders H are bent levers, having their fulcrums at I and their shorter arms pivoted at e to compression spring rods J J, provided with adjustable collars c, fixed by setscrews 61. The reaction of the springs of rods J J tends to force the long arms of the levers H inward toward the middle of the trough. The inner faces of H H are curved, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, to form cams, which are operated by the rollers r r in the ends of a cross-head, G, fixed to the plunger-rod Q by the set-screw t. The roller 1" is adjustable in a slot, l, in the arm of the cross-head on the same side of the trough as the adjustable side D, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The cross-head O is fixed to the plunger-rod Q just in front of the upright arm O,which supports the plunger P. v

The operation is as follows: As the plunger advances to pack the sheet held between the guide-slits S S, the rollers r 1" come into contact with the cam-surfaces of the holders H H and force them apart. They carry back the guide-slits S S to a line with the sides of the trough, and permit the plunger, of the full width of the trough, to pass the plane of the guide-slits and press back the folded sheet into complete contact with the sheet previously packed, driving out the air from the whole of the surfaces in contact, and thus relieving, by the supporting action of atmospheric pressure,

the tendency of the sheet to fall when the plunger is withdrawn.

Having thus described my improvement, what I claim is- 1. In the packing-trough of a paper-folding machine, amechanism for automatically withdrawing the guide-slits from the trough at the moment of the arrival of the plunger at the plane in which the paper is supported in the slits, all constructed and operating substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.

2. The combination, in the packing-trough of a folding-machine, of the reciprocating plunger P, rod Q, cross-head G, rollers a r,

guide-slits S S, holders H H, and spring-rods J J, all constructed and operating substantially as specified.

3. The combination, in the packing-trough of a folding-machine, of the fixed plate F, ad- 20 justable plate G, having slotsfg, bolts 1' i, and nuts mn, cross-head 0, having slot 1, roller 1", and adjustable holder H, all constructed and operating as and for the purpose set; forth.

4. The combination, in the packing-trough of afolding-machine, of a plunger ot' the full Width of the trough, guide-slits which support the folded sheet until the plunger reaches it, and then reeede and allow the plunger to pass, and mechanism for effecting and timing these movements, all substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own invention I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

\VILLIAM MENDHAM.

lVitnesses:

THORWALD CHR. DAMBERG, J. HOWARD CHAMBERS. 

